


Machine Healing: HIATUS

by Huntedfailure



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Charlie is oblivious to the effecct she has on Elizabeth, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Michael needs therapy, Original Character(s), Panic Attacks, Robot!michaelAU, Slow Burn, Survivor Guilt, They all need therapy, William Afton and Dave Miller and Purple Guy are the Same Person, warnings apply later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25822315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntedfailure/pseuds/Huntedfailure
Summary: Henry brings Michael back from the dead as a machine though he may have accidentally brought a dead Michael from a different universe back instead of his Michael.Michael now has to deal with not only being in a robot body in the wrong world but he also has to deal with the mental health issues he's been repressing for decades and a mysterious entity keen on making those issues worse451 hits!?!?!?!?! why are you reading this?
Relationships: Elizabeth Afton/Charlotte "Charlie" Emily
Comments: 31
Kudos: 78





	1. Building the first step.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael wakes up when he knows he shouldn't in a strange situation.

The last memory Michael had was fire, the fire actually the one to end it all, the one to set everyone free. The fire was Michael's last memory but now something is wrong, something is pulling Michael back from the endless black and is letting him see something though he can't quite tell what it all is as all he sees shifting are shifting barely humanoid silhouettes against a grey background. Along with the silhouettes Michael could hear what seemed to be voices though they were faint and it all seemed gargled as if they were speaking a language he had never heard before. Eventually his vision faded and he went into a sort of sleep.

When Michael was awake again he noticed two things, one his vision was less blurred and he could see color, the second thing he noticed is that he could hear almost perfectly fine now albeit everything was quiet. 

“He’s getting better but beware this is a slow process and could take another year or two” Said a deeper male voice which undoubtedly belonged to Henry the man who, last time Michael checked, killed himself and everyone else in a fire though clearly that isn’t the case anymore as both he and Michael were both clearly here. 

“Alright” Said a clearly female voice which had a slight british twinge “Lets just hope you got the right one.” her voice seemed hopeful but slightly worried

Another female voice piped up “He's done as much as he can Liz” the voice seemed completely trusting of Henry in whatever he's doing.

“No her worries are justified after all doing something like this is chance though i have tipped the scales in our favor as much as i can.” Henry said seemingly hopeful that whatever he was doing was gonna work.

Michael began to lose interest in the conversation and began to look around though for some reason he could only turn his eyes and not his head. He seemed to be in a workshop of some sort most likely Henry's and in it there were bits and pieces of what appeared to be an endoskeleton. He was startled and was pulled from his observations of the room as the British woman spoke up.

“Uh Henry, why is he looking around?” she said mildly concerned by Michael's innocuous actions.

Henry turned to the mechanical head and analyzed it before moving towards him with an analytical look. Michael noticed some things about Henry now that he was closer and less blurred, he was only slightly older than he last saw him and his face was less worn by years of somber emotion though he still showed signs that he wasn’t sleeping well.

“ok this is gonna sound weird but i'm gonna ask you a few simple questions alright, blink once for yes and twice for no.” it seemed like he was preparing that short sentence for awhile.  
“So, Can you hear me?” He asked. Michael gave him three blinks in response which made Henry sigh and the other two people in the room chuckle.

“Very funny Michael” he said containing a grin “now since you can hear me lets answer a few more questions albeit earlier than expected” he said as he grabbed some cue cards from below the desk that Michael just noticed he was propped up on.

“Do you remember a lot?” He asked reading the first card. Michael blinked yes. One of the perks of being a walking corpse was that for some reason memories stuck rather well though he could never figure out why.

Henry shuffled through the deck and found another good card but before he could ask it the non British woman spoke up “come on you’ve been at this for awhile you need to at least get one good night's sleep”

Henry sighed and looked at Michael “things are going to dark for a while but when you get back you should be better” he said before touching something on the back of Michael's head and plunging him into the black.

After turning Michael off Henry turned to his daughter and Elizabeth “Am i the old one who thinks its weird that he turned himself on?” He asked with a perplexed look

“No its definitely strange but, this is a problem for tomorrow” Charlie said turning her father towards the door “go to sleep or I’ll be forced knock you out with a wrench and drag you to bed”

Henry chuckled “Fine but you better go to sleep at a reasonable time as well” he said which made Charlie roll her eyes as dramatically as possible while stifling a laugh

“Alright just let me get some of my college stuff done” she said as she turned to Elizabeth “hey wanna help me work a bit? Maybe your intelligence will rub off on me”

Elizabeth’s face went pink ever so slightly in response to Charlie's compliment, “sure I'd be happy too” she said with the usual slight British twinge in her voice.

After their brief exchanges all three left the workshop to go about their night leaving Michael in the workshop alone.

Michael suddenly jolted to life in the middle of the night. His vision was surprisingly clear despite it being pitch black. Just as Michael was getting used to the silence he began to hear faint stomping who’s source quickly revealed itself to be a tall and alien looking Bonnie animatronic whose fur was a deep purple which glowed ever so slightly.

The strange machine starred at Michael for a brief moment before speaking in a strange and alien voice.

“Even if you don’t understand it fully your thinking this situation may help you get a new start for a hopefully happy life but you know that's not true. You’ll either drive the people in your life away or into the ground, your an Afton after all, hurting others is in your blood”

After this statement the machine left and Michael was plunged into the black before he could process what the machine said.


	2. One step down, a hundred more to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Michael talk about the past and the different ways their lives went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm a day early but sometimes a chapter just comes out of you you know?

Michael began to be drawn from the black but for some reason, it was slower which gave Michael a moment to think which was a bit difficult before. The first thing on Michaels's mind was that purple Bonnie and what it said, it was right when it said that he was slightly hopeful about this situation, After all, Michaels's life was hell, and any chance he had at happiness he should take right?

Though maybe he didn’t deserve happiness after all he’d done in the vain hope his father would treat him even a little bit better. Before he could finish berating himself, he was pulled fully into the world. The first thing he saw was Henry working on something just below him, or was it him? That would make sense, Henry was bringing Michael back as a machine for some reason.

Henry moved up to Michael’s head and did something which turned his hearing on which Michael just noticed he didn’t have until that second. Henry adjusted a few things which made Michaels vision perfectly normal and not blurred.

“Now Michael, I want you to speak if you can hear me,” Henry said slowly and deliberately as if he was teaching a child

“No sorry I can’t hear you,” Michael said happily taking the chance to joke with Henry

“Glad to see your humor survived,” Henry said checking a box on the paper below him “now what's the last thing you remember before waking up in my workshop?”

Michael thought that for a second, he should lie and say something mundane but quickly flushed that away. He couldn’t lie to Henry that wouldn’t be right.

“I remember the fire; you were talking over the intercoms as the others thrashed around and clawed at the walls in the adjacent room. I remember my father barreling towards me from a vent with more anger in his eyes than I’ve ever seen before, but before he could reach me the vent collapses on top of him then his anger turned to pleading as he begged for me to save him but i ignored him and the flame washed over me. Then there was nothing for a long time before I was suddenly drawn from nothing into your workshop as a robot” Michaels said this all in a voice that was barely level as he contained the urge of letting out every little bit of pain in one massive screen.

Henry paused for a few moments as a mix of anger, sadness and confusion enveloped his face in a second.

After a bit henry spoke, “So Michael this is going to sound confusing, but i think i brought the wrong you back”.

Michael processed this statement for a second before looking Henry in the eye with a somber look.

“There wasn’t a fire, was here? Here I died differently?” he said, still barely containing the urge to scream.

“Well, here you died in a car crash while going to visit your mother in an old folks’ home” Henry's voice clearly showed he did not like that memory.

“Christ that's bad. I'm sorry you had to go through that” Michael said not knowing how to process that this world's version of him died in a strangely tragic way.

“If I’m the wrong one why don’t you just send me back into the nothing and try again? Michael asked hoping that it was that simple.

“It took two years to bring your soul back, three years to build you this not even complete body and I was honestly expecting another two years before your soul fully melded with this machine and I could finish building it. If it were to restart well… I’m not sure I have those many years left in me” Henry seemed hesitant to admit that his age and failing health were catching up with him.

Henry sat there for a second before speaking again “Please don't tell Charlie Or Elizabeth about what I said…” Henry said the somber tone Michael had grown used to slowly creeping in.

“I won’t… also wait Charlie and Liz are still alive?” Michael had grown so used to the fact that they were dead and unsavable.

“Were they not where you're from?” Henry asked slightly perplexed.

“They were killed… by my dad” Michael's voice conveyed a heavy shame for their deaths even though he didn’t do anything

“Oh god…” Henry said horrified. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, seeing clearly that Michael was hurting.

“No, let's just continue with whatever manual work you were doing,” He said, wanting this discussion to be over.

Henry began to slowly build up Michaels body slowly adding the shoulders and waist but he stopped after a while

“Got to get to sleep before Charlie yells at me for not taking care of myself,” Henry said turning to the door “I'm going to leave you on for tonight so you can get used to your new body alright?”

And with that, he left Michael alone in the workshop with his thoughts. The discussion was hard, but it was nice to have a conversation for once even if it hurts a bit.

Maybe being here wouldn't be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was a bit long but it just sorta came out that way. hopped you enjoyed Michael and Henry being sad.


	3. A Blossoming relation ship and one in need of repair.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Elizabeth share a night and Michael continues to hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be a bit too fluffy for some but there's some sad Michael in there to balance it out.

Charlie was completing the finishing touches on Michael's body. The Bodies system was incredibly complex and difficult even for Charlie and her father as it was meant to be as close to human as they could make it. Charlie ran the final diagnostics on Michaels's legs.

“You think you can walk?” she asked Michael who simply shrugged in response

“Won’t know until try.” Michael said pushing himself off the counter and landing on his feet with a heavy thump that made the smooth casing around his endoskeleton shake a bit, Charlie would need to tighten the casing up a bit.

“Alright well let's go through some exercises to make sure you won’t topple over after moving one leg.” she said grabbing a notebook and flipping through its pages to find the exercises 

“I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to walk by myself Charlie. Why don’t you go.. Do whatever it is you do’” he said as he slowly moved one foot in front of another whilst trying to maintain balance.

Charlie sighed, a few nights off to rest like her father was getting recently would be nice and she would be a hypocrite if she didn’t follow her own advice.

“Fine but if you fall I'm not helping you.” she said only half-joking

“Terms accepted,” Michael said before immediately faking almost falling over.

Charlie nearly jumped from her spot to catch him before stopping and staring dead-eyed at the machine

“That wasn’t very funny you know.” she said not amused by his joke. 

“I happened to find it hilarious, you just don't have a sense of humor.” he said, finding a little pride in his frankly immature humor.

Charlie just sighed and left Michael to his own devices. As she left the workshop an immediate feeling of filth weighed down on her. Looking down she finally noticed that she was covered in grease and oil from working on Michael, noticing her filth she resolved to take a shower.

After hopping into the shower and scrubbed aggressively to get the filth off her. After she finished cleaning she wrapped up in a towel and walked to her room, inside her room she was just gonna throw on some clothes and spend the rest of the night watching Netflix and eventually pass out on the couch but then her phone dinged, it was a message from Elizabeth.

“Finished work faster than expected so I'm gonna be home early!” was all the message said.  
Charlie's mind raced, Elizabeth couldn’t come home and see her dressed like she didn't care that she looked like garbage. Charlie in a panic quickly brushed her dark brown hair to presentable levels and quickly threw on black sweatpants, a white tee-shirt, and an unzipped green hoodie over that.

Just as she finished putting her clothes on there were a series of metal thumps, walking out of her room Charlie saw Michael looking around the house with a strange aura of tired familiarity around him which she chose to ignore”

“Hey you're walking around that's good!” Charlie said excitedly.

“Well it's not that hard to remember how to walk Charlie.” he said dryly as walk he walked around the kitchen feeling nostalgic 

“Well Elizabeths gonna be home soon so can you move? I want to make something for me and her” Charlie gestured for Michael to get out of the way of the microwave.

Michael stepped out of the way as Charlie began making popcorn. There was a moment of silence before Michael looked at Charlie

“So is it like a movie date?” he asked nonchalantly and with a tinge of mischievous glee in his voice as he knew fully what he was implying 

“Oh uh no I was just gonna give her some of my extra popcorn and watch some stuff by myself… and it wouldn’t be a date if we did watch it together it would just be friends hanging out” Charlie got defensive at the end which made Michael tilt his head slightly.

“I was just messing around but… do you actually like my sister?” Michael would have a dumb grin on his face if he could smile.

Charlie's face went bright red with embarrassment. Charlie considered her next words carefully

“Fine… I like Liz, like, a lot. I like how she holds herself, I like how she always tries to help, I like how she doesn't think I'm weird because of my trauma. I just like everything about her ok.” She seemed a little lost in thought before suddenly snapping back into reality.

“Do not tell Elizabeth about what I said ok?” Charlie was very assertive in that statement which surprised Michael.

“I won’t tell her don’t worry. I do have a question though, why don’t you tell her?” Michael asked

“Because she has her own stuff and I don't want to weigh her down with my trauma garbage, Plus I don't know where I would start.” Charlie asked as her mood went from awkward to somber.

“Maybe you could start with ‘hey wanna sit with me for a bit?’ something simple like that you know?” he said just as a car was heard pulling into the driveway.

“Welp now's your chance, I'm leaving now.” Michael said quickly walking away before Elizabeth could enter the house.

Elizabeth walked through the front door. Work that day had been rather light compared to other days so she muscled through it quickly and came home early only to see Charlie standing in front of the microwave whilst strangely dressed up which would make Elizabeth swoon if not for the strangeness.

“Hey uh what are you doing?” Elizabeth asked Charlie who darted up and looked towards her 

“Oh uh just making popcorn, was gonna take the rest of the night to watch some stuff.” Charlie said trying to contain her worry about what she was about to ask.

“Oh well don’t let me stop you.” Elizabeth turned around and was going to walk towards her room when Charlie spoke up. 

“I was actually wondering if you wanted to watch with me?” Charlie asked as her face went as red as the ends of Elizabeth's long blonde hair which made her thankful Elizabeth was facing the other way.

Elizabeth almost jumped up and down in excitement but contained herself at least for a moment.

“Sure just let me get into more comfortable clothes.” She said, almost skipping off into her room to change.

When Elizabeth came out of her room in more casual clothing she saw Charlie on the couch surfing threw shows before turning to Elizabeth and patting the spot next to her on the couch.

“Come sit Liz, I need help picking something to watch.” she said scrolling absentmindedly through shows.

Elizabeth sat next to her and began looking at the options as Charlie surfed and eventually she pointed out a show and they began to watch. It was quiet as they watched the show but it was a nice quiet as they shared the night. Eventually, Elizabeth spoke up.

“Do you think Michael hates me?” Elizabeth asked Randomly with slight worry in her voice. 

“No, I don't. Why do you ask?” Charlie was slightly concerned by Elizabeth’s sudden question.

“Well I feel like he’s been avoiding me and when he does talk it's usually short responses and he tries to end the conversation as soon as possible, and I wonder if I did something or maybe he just doesn't like me” there was a palpable amount of worry in her voice

“I think he's just… going through some stuff Liz. Give him time” Charlie said, trying to comfort her.

“I know. It’s just that he’s not like this with you or Henry and I'm worried that there’s a big reason for it.” Elizabeth said balling up slightly on the couch.

“If there is something wrong I know you can fix it.” Charlie said grabbing one of Elizabeth's hands and holding it tightly.

Elizabeth’s face grew a massive grin and blushed slightly.

“Thanks, Charlie.” She said as she absentmindedly leaned her head on Charlie’s shoulder which made Charlie blush and shift so they were both more comfortable. 

As they laid there they both began to drift asleep and eventually fully embracing unconsciousness. Michael sat in the hallway near the living room just outside of view. When he had walked off he hadn’t gone far, instead, he just sat in the hall feeling terrible for running away from Elizabeth and he felt even worse when he heard her talk about how she thinks he hates her when that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“You're hurting her just like you always do.” said the strange Purple Bonnie who walked into view.

“Shut up.” Said Michael, hugging his knees.

“You're a disease that people pity too much to get rid of.” The Purple Bonnie said in its usually accusatory monotone.

“Just shut up.” Michael said instinctually clutching the sides of his head to cover ears that were no longer there.

“You're just like your-” the Purple Bonnie was cutoff 

“Maybe you're right. Maybe I am just a piece of garbage who should just stayed a skin suit. Maybe I do hurt everyone around me but I'm gonna at least try and stop hurting her, god knows I’ve done it too much.” Michael said all this as he forced himself up from the ground 

“I'm gonna go and talk to her and maybe make this a tiny bit better” He walked over to the couch only to see that both Elizabeth and Charlie were dead asleep against one and other.

“You took too long feeling bad about yourself that you missed your chance” The Purple Bonnie was trying to get under his skin but instead he put a nearby blanket on Charlie and Elizabeth before simply turning towards the kitchen to prepare something. Michael grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the kitchen and began to write

"Elizabeth we need to talk. Workshop at dusk, tomorrow.- Michael" That was all Michael wrote

He put the note on the table in front of Charlie and Elizabeth and turned away only to notice something, the Purple Bonnie was gone. Choosing to ignore the disappearance Michael went to his usual spot in the workshop and sat patiently thinking of what to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this chapter! tell me if you'd to see more of a certain thing or just have criticism.


	4. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Elizabeth have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put some (maybe a bit to much) Charlie x Elizabeth stuff in ths chapayter to balance out the saddness.

Elizabeth Woke up laying on top of Charlie on the couch. Elizabeth panicked slightly at the fact she had spent a night laying on top of her crush but quickly quelled her thoughts and slowly moved as to not wake Charlie but as she did this she noticed something sitting on the table in front of her, a note meant for her. She read the note and it confused her, why would Michael want to meet at dusk after all its early.

She checked her phone, it was definitely not early in the day in fact it was only a few hours before dusk. She quickly scrambled up to take a shower and get dressed for the probably terrible conversation with Michael but was careful not to wake Charlie. After a quick shower and putting on some clothes she stepped out of her room only to smell coffee. She stepped into the kitchen only to see Charlie sipping coffee whilst leaning in the counter next to the toaster.

“Hey Liz.” she said with a wide smile Elizabeth rarely saw.

“Oh hi, Charlie. What are you up to?” Elizabeth asked, stepping into the kitchen to stand next to Charlie.

“Well I’m drinking coffee and making us toast,” Charlie said taking a sip of her coffee.

“Us? Didn’t think you’d make some for me.” Elizabeth said feeling a genuine warmth in the room

“Well I knew you’d probably be hungry so I made extra for you” She said as she shrugged casually.

“Aw thanks Charlie” she said as the toast popped out of the toaster which made Charlie grab two plates for both of them and some butter.

They sat in the kitchen eating silently simply enjoying each others company for a short bit before Charlie suddenly spoke up

“Oh I forgot to mention: we're out of bread and almost out of toast so I was hoping you could go get some?” Charlie said before taking another bite of toast.

“Oh, can you do it? I… have something to do today.” Elizabeth asked whilst looking at the note across the room with a grim feeling.

“Sure I can let's just finish eating first,” Charlie said before continuing to eat the toast and drink her coffee.

They ate silently for a bit longer before Charlie got up to put on a coat and go to the store.

As she stepped past the threshold of the front door, she turned around.  
“Liz, could you come here?” Charlie asked which made Elizabeth come marching over slightly confused.

Charlie planted a quick kiss on Elizabeth's check before closing the door and scurrying off to the car and driving away. Elizabeth almost shrieked in excitement but calmed herself and checked the time, it was dusk which surprised her because that meant Charlie and her sat around enjoying each others company for longer than both of them probably realized.

Elizabeth sighed and slowly made her way to the workshop. Just as she was about to open the door, she hesitated for a second as a wave of worries washed over her which she quickly pushed down before opening the door to the workshop. When she opened the door she saw Michael sitting on the counter deathly still in some kind of contemplation.

“Oh, your here.” Michael said suddenly bursting into motion to look at Elizabeth which startled her.

“Yeah, I am. So you said you wanted to talk?” She said wondering what he wanted to talk about.

“I actually wanted to apologize to you.” He said sounding somber.

“Apologize? For what?” Elizabeth said, confused.

“The whole… avoiding your thing. I heard you and Charlie discussing how I avoid you and how you think I might hate you.” he said a sense of shame lacing his words.

“Well do you?” Elizabeth said a mix of curiosity and concern coming through in her question.

“Of course I don’t Lizzy, I don’t think I ever could hate you” he replied with a slight coming after.

Elizabeth grabbed her arm as a feeling of worry crashed over her like a wave.

“Then why have you been avoiding me?” she asked sadly.

For a moment Michael didn’t know what to say despite spending an entire day thinking of things to say but eventually, something came to mind.

“Where I'm from… you died because one of dad's machines was made to kill kids. You were dead for a bit but eventually, you came back by possessing the machine that killed you. You mixed with its programming, going from the mischievous child with a lot of prank schemes that you were at that age to a manipulative, plotting… murder” Michael said all of this within his voice.

Elizabeths gasped at the recount of her other selves' actions but that didn’t stop Michael from continuing.

“You tricked me and eventually in an attempt to re-enter normal society used me as a skin suit but that of course, didn’t stop me from rotting so eventually you left my body on the street and hid in the sewers but. My corpse was left on the street but I didn’t stay dead for long” Michael paused as he didn’t know how to say the next bits without getting into memories he’d rather not relive.

“My god Michael, I'm so sorry. I didn’t know you went through all that and I didn't mean to make you feel bad” Elizabeth said clearly concerned for her brothers.

“No, it’s my fault. I should have told you instead of being terrible and avoiding you” He said holding his head low in shame.

“Mikey please with what you’ve gone through I'm sure it's a reasonable response,” she said hugging the mechanical body trying to comfort him,

“Also your cold. Terrible for hugging” She said trying to lighten the mood and it seemed to work as Michael laughed a little.

“I’ll tell Henry about it and maybe he could do something,” he said, hugging Elizabeth back.

The moment was nice but it was ruined when Elizabeth's phone dinged three times. Elizabeth checked her phone and immediately went pale before sprinting to get her coat.

“What's going on?” Michael asked, very concerned.

“It’s Charlie.” Elizabeth said sprinting towards the car with Michael right behind her.

“I’ll come with.” Michael said hopping into the back seat of Elizabeth's car still not knowing entirely what's going but knowing Charlie needs help.

They sped off into town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hops it was worth the wait! (probably wasn't)


	5. A bad Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings begin to apply here so be warry.
> 
> Charlie remembers when she doesn't want to and Michael and Elizabeth help her get through it.
> 
> If I portrayed anything disrespectfully please tell me and ill fix. (im working off of personal experience and research here)

Charlie Pecked Elizabeth's cheek and quickly ran off to her car. Once Charlie was in her car she almost screamed in excitement at kissing her crush which she finally did due to Michaels pep talk. Charlie turned her car on and began driving, all she needed to do was go grab groceries and come back in time to stay up until 2 am watching stupid TV again. After a minute she left the neighborhood and Finally entered the tragedy ridden town of Hurricane Utah, she drove for a bit and eventually ended up at the grocery store. She entered and quickly skimmed the aisles looking for the dairy section before eventually finding her required items and walking over to the checkout.

As she checked out the cashier began to make small talk.

“You hear about that new Freddy’s their building,” She said casually even though the statement made Charlie’s heart sink.

“I'm sorry did you just say a new Freddy’s is opening?” Charlie asked a feeling of panic engulfing her being.

“Yeah but it apparently took them a bit to get the property on account of the fact that their establishments, you know, had several murders,” She said as she finished ringing up and bagging Charlie’s items.

Charlie’s breath slowly began to quicken as she grabbed her groceries and jogged to her car.  
She put the groceries in the trunk then sat in the driver's seat as her breath quickened as panic began to flow through her.

“It's ok. It’s just a restaurant, It’s just a restaurant" Charlie said on repeat to herself as memory's of a man in a yellow rabbit costume flooded her brain

she decided that going home would be a good idea so she started the car and began to drive for a bit but stopped with a screech of the tires when she saw an under-construction building with a sign next to it with a familiar bear and the word " the new home of Freddy Fazebear and his gang".

Charlie grabbed her phone and quickly texted Elizabeth "Come here, please I need some help" she sent the text but after moment typed another one "please" after sending that text she brought her knees to her chest as her breathing quickly caught up with her racing thoughts.

Elizabeth and Michael hopped into Elizabeth's car before driving off towards town not caring for speed limits and barely considering signs and stoplights.

"Lizzy, what is going on?" Michael asked in confusion as he was jostled around in the backseat of the car.

"Charlie's either being mugged or having a panic attack," Elizabeths said as she scanned the sidewalks looking for charlie with a mix of determination and worry in her eyes.

"Well those two options are just lovely," Michael said sarcastically as he looked over the area for Charlie.

"There!" Michael said pointing towards an under-construction building which had Charlie's car parked in front of it. 

They quickly parked their car and scrambled out towards Charlie. Elizbeth went to Charlie and knocked on the window lightly while Michael looked for what might have caused Charlie ti suddenly park. after few seconds Michael's eyes found the reason, this was going to be a new Freddy's location and with that fact established Michaels mind suddenly had three images creep into it: A yellow bear crushing a young boy's head as horror terror onlookers, a metal scoop lurching forward as a mechanical horror looked on mere feet away, and a fire consuming a building as a yellow bunny scrambled forward him with anger a fear.

"Michael! get over here" Elizabeths said through gritted teeth as to not upset Charlie more.

Elizabeth's words pulled Michael from his thoughts and he quickly walked over too his sister and her crush who talked through a rolled-down car window. As Michael approached the car window he saw a sobbing Charlie and an all too calm Elizabeth who clearly had some experience with this type of situation.

"Focus on my voice. whatever your remembering was long ago and will never happen again." Elizabeth said which seemed to help Charlie slightly.

Michael didn't know what to say in this situation as his father never bothered to teach him how to deal with other people and his mom wasn't around long enough to even try. Eventually, he decided on something to say to hopefully help even if didn't know if it would work.

"Want to go home?" He asked which made Charlie look up at him with her crying stopping momentarily.

"What about my car?" Charlie asked with genuine worry.

"Im sure we can find a tow guy Charlotte," Elizabeth said looking at Charlie with a comforting gaze before turning to Michael and nodding in approval.

"you haven't called me Charlotte in a while," Charlie said with a teary smile as she stepped out of her car.

"I only save such a nice name for when I think the moment needs it," Elizabeth said grabbing Charlie's hand to support her as they walked towards Elizabeth's car.

"That's the cheesiest thing you have ever said," Charlie said as she shuffled towards the other car with Michael and Charlie.

They reached Elizabeth's car and began to drive off towards home as Charlie slowly calmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait Lifes just sucker-punching me in the kneecaps right now.


	6. Trying to be better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael and Elizabeth talk. Michael prepares to be better. (Chapters a bit short)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the summary said, this a bit short. (sorry)

Elizabeth looked at the sleeping Charlie who was sprawled o the couch before turning to her brother who's mechanical shoulders were hung low in some sort of sadness.

"Are you ok Michael? You seem a little... overwhelmed." Elizabeth said worried about her usually sarcastic and boring brother.

"Yeah it's just..." he paused for second "Dads the reason for this isn't he?" Michael said with a mix of sadness and anger barely peaking through in his voice.

For a moment Elizabeth didn't know what to say, does she reveal that her version of their dad nearly killed a family friend and successfully murdered four random kids.

"Yeah, he did. How'd you guess?" She said finally pushing the words out of her mouth though it felt like it required all the effort her mind and body could muster.

"Experience. Where I'm from he successfully killed a lot of kids, but you already know that. What you don't know is that Charlie was among those kids." Michael's words were filled with calm yet violent anger that Elizabeth had never seen before.

"The sad thing is, I'm not suprised he was always jealous of Henry and the family he had so I wouldn't put it past him to kill her to bring Henry's family down to our level." Elizabeth's words had a tired acceptance layered on top of them.

The siblings fell into silence after that with Elizabeth slowly drifting towards Charlie and Michael slowly moving into the kitchen. In the kitchen, Michael saw The Purple Bonnie again standing next to the fridge though it looked more withered and worn.

"You come back and Charlie has a break down soon after. Like I've said you're poison." The Purple Bonnie said with vitriol laced words.

"Oh, it would have happened anyway. Don't start with me" He said grabbing pancake mix and a pan before setting both items on the counter and turning on the stove.

"what are you doing?" It asked in what appeared to genuine confusion.

"Shouldn't you know? You're here because my messed up brain aren't you?" Michael said as he began the process of making pancakes. "But to answer your question: Im being a good friend, Once this batch is done it'll be moring and Charlie and Lizzy will have something to eat."

The Purple Bonnie didn't say anything and instead simply stayed silent for a moment before slowly fading, at least for a time.


	7. The future of machine healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An explanation and a question

Hey so I know I haven't posted a chapter in centuries and TBH it was a mix of things including life, school, and just plain procrastination (plus my chapter 7 draft getting deleted in a forced windows update)

But along with that there's been another issue, that being that i had no plan for the story. well that's not true I had events I wanted reach and such but it way less planned out than any other writing projects I had done and that lead to either a lot of filler or really short chapters.

overall I like what I've made but I know I'm able to do better. 

I have several options but I don't want to disappoint you all so I'm creating a poll with 3 options which ill break down bellow.

Option 1, Reboot: I reboot machine healing (in a new fic) and have a more fleshed out and planned story. This original fic will still stay up for those who want to read it

Option 2, Continuation: I continue as I am (still having more of a plan but I have to work with the previous chapters)

Option 3, New Story: I simply leave Machine healing as is and start a new story (I might return to it later.) The story I have in mind is basically a paranormal investigators AU. To make it simple: Michael, Charlie and Elizabeth all either were never attacked or narrowly escaped death. years after the murders and their trauma Henry calls them all back to hurricane. He found traces of William who disappeared after the murders and is sending them in too investigate because in his old age and health he is unable. this draws them repeatedly into a paranormal world (I mean that quite literally) where they begin to both face down the consequences of Williams crimes and deal with their baggage. Some elements of Machine healing would carry over (mainly Charlie x Elizabeth) but it would be a separate universe.

thank you all for reading this story. the poll link is bellow

https://strawpoll.com/hvbsav2fv

Edit: To clarify no matter the option, this fic will stay up

Edit 2: I plan on ending voting in 2 days.

Edit 3: we need one more vote before tomorrow or else I will just flip a coin


	9. Status change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looking to the future

(Sorry if formatting is weird I’m on mobile)

So since the results of the poll were split, I’m going with the paranormal investigators au

So the status of machine healing? Hiatus. This does not mean I won’t return to it, it just means I’m taking a break from it.

I got a story to make an outline for.

Thank you very much for reading. See ya when I see ya.

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic so please have mercy.


End file.
